The Down East Seniors Club held its Sept. 20 meeting at the Blind Center of North Carolina in Washington. President Stewart Rumley led the meeting. Jim Hackney played for the singing of “God Bless America,” and Charles Smith gave the invocation. Ed Hamrick read factoids for the date in history, and Dick Paul provided humor.

Program Chairman Chip Ide was unable to attend. In his stead, Smith introduced Polk Culpepper as the speaker. Culpepper spoke about Confederate monuments in Washington. There are two located in Oakdale Cemetery. One is the Monument to the Private Soldier, a tall stone with a concrete statue of a soldier on top. This monument was first installed at the corner of Water and McNair streets by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Later, when the railroad came through that area, the monument was moved to the cemetery. The other monument, known as the Defenders’ Monument, is a stack of 14 cannonballs on a low brick base. This monument, which originally had 17 cannonballs, was dedicated to the memory of the 17 soldiers killed in the defense of Washington in 1862. It is estimated that there are between 700 and 1,000 monuments related to the War Between the States located in southern states.

Rumley reminded the members that quarterly dues should be paid in October.

Smith won the 50/50 drawing.